[Asquaredmom]

I am finding the dental archives usefulness seriously compromised since Smillemomma's responses were excised.

We were finally able to get our younger dd to open her mouth for the dentist and the diagnosis is 32 cavities. DD will be 4 in May.

Our dentist referred us to a ped dentist. I was unable to attend the appt. b/c I had to stay home w/our older dd who has adhd and a seizure disorder.

The info my dh came home with was not good, of course. DD must have the "bad" bacteria, this is not "bottle mouth." The dentist did not think that testing for bacteria was useful. It will take 2 procedures under sedation at the office, or one under general at the hospital.

The ped dentist prefers the sedation. The first available appt. is Feb. 9 (mind you her consultation appt. was Dec. 8!!!)

The only advice we were given was 3 meals a day, no snacks. cut back on juice and brush after she eats anything. Well that is pretty much impossible around here. She is very slight and needs to eat often. Of course she has a wicked sweet tooth and constantly whines for ice cream and chocolate.

What I did glean from the archives was that there was perhaps more that we could do:

Xylitol gum, rinse, toothpaste.
Other rinses, what else is apppropriate for a 4 yo???
Tea Tree Oil rinse.
Probiotics???
Homeopathic silica and cal phos???

I'd like to hear what you mommas have tried and what you think helped.

TIA

Kathleen

P.S. Smilemomma, if you happen to read this I would REALLY appreciate a PM from you.

 

[cathe]

How about 3 meals and an am snack and pm snack. Eating constantly throughout the day is a definitely bad for tooth decay. Also, you have to cut out the sugar. Give her fruit, smoothies, etc. for her sweet tooth - this is just baby teeth now but if she keeps up these habits, she will have serious problems with her grownup teeth.

We don't use toothpaste or any rinses with my kids and they have never had cavities - diet (juice and sweets only on special occasions) and brushing and flossing will make a huge difference.

 

[ma_Donna]

I've just been going through archives myself. My 14mo has chipped upper front teeth that chipped when they were emerging and I'm concerned about their vulnerability to decay. The past several years I've had quite a bit of decay myself after having a cavity free childhood. I've felt very guilty about the state of my teeth after having been so proud of their cavity free state and am quite fearful of my baby having issues so early.

One of the things I'm going to do is a much better job on myself & I'm going to try xylitol.

I can't help too much, but I did run across this site from a yahoo search. It seems fairly in line with a lot of the principals on this board and quotes studies. I hope it helps educational website from a private practice

Good luck!

 

[Mona]

FYI- smilemomma would love to join in the discussion here, but is locked out of this forum by the PTB.

 

[Artisan]

Do you brush with a fluoride toothpaste? Tom's of Maine makes a natural toothpaste w/fluoride that we use. From the reading that I've done, fluoride is most effective when applied topically, rather than just relying on what may be in your drinking water.

Sorry my answer is so basic -- I'm sure you've thought of that.

 

[joesmom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mona FYI- smilemomma would love to join in the discussion here, but is locked out of this forum by the PTB.

That is so sad... she has SO much knowledge & info to share...

 

[Ruby Pearl]

I just took my 4 1/2 year old to a paediatric dentist and I am not sure how many cavities she has but if you count all her teeth and subtract 1, that is the number. The estimate came to almost $4000.00 (Can.) and he can't even do the surgery until May! He accused me of giving her a bottle of juice at bedtime. We drink orange juice about once a month on a Sat. and she has never had bottles. I was shocked and dismayed when he told me the extent of the damage. Her father and I both have crummy teeth, but I thought mine was because my parents never really stressed brushing them. Can tooth decay be genetic and how do I protect her permanent teeth?

 

[simonee]

From what I've understood, smilemomma is not able to even view this "new" dental forum, but she's been pretty quick replying to pm's in the past, so you could try that.

Asquared mom, in addition to the stuff you've found already, you may want to search the archives for posts on remineralization by malamamama ~ she's posted some excellent summaries on foods that help get the tooth enamel back to a strong state, such as apples and nuts.

I also know that smilemomma, before her untimely exit from the untimely exiting previous incarnatoin of hte dental board, was going all gaga over xylitol. Remember Bubba the shrimp guy in Forest gump? "xylitol sandwiches, fried xylitol, xylitol on the rocks etc." :LOL

To get rid of the bacteria, you need to get all the teeth fixed so that they have no place to live anymore, and then clean clean clean with a combination of tto rinses and brushing, and then make the mouth an inhospitable place for bacteria by strengthening the teeth with fluoride and good minerals and xylitol.

BF is really not to blame, but in a marsh place every drop of water will make things muddier kwim? So once the teeth are bad, bf esp at night might exacerbate the problems.

Ruby, there definitely seems to be a genetic factor at work. The good thing is that you know what's happening now with her "practice" teeth, so you can prepare for the future. The permanent teeth are being formed now, so you can influence a lot. Getting her teeth fixed so these new teeth under the gums will not be affected by infection/decay before they erupt is one biggie. You can support the new ones by making sure she gets excellent nutrition ~ the slimmed down archives will still yield some info if you run a search or dig a bit.

Then may I say I'm happy this forum is back? Just in time for my dd's first "wiggly tooth"!!!!!!!!!!!! (and smilemomma if you read this as Guest I know you'll be happy to know that I hold you coresponsible for her being able to loose all her baby teeth the way mother nature intended her to

)

 

[TigerTail]

it's back! ok, without the one resource that made it superior and different than every other source, but it's at least an acknowledgement that it was necessary.

ps i just wanted to add that you can find huge tubs of xylitol at lo-carb food stores (about 20 bucks, but you could raise 6 kids to adulthood with the amount.)

ps ruby- don't feel too bad, i think it is genetic to a larger extent than is credited- my teeth suck, but i married a guy with super-strong teeth and bone structure so (knock wood) they're teeth are great. sounds a little late for that solution for ya...

suse

 

[Ruby Pearl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by suseyblue ps ruby- don't feel too bad, i think it is genetic to a larger extent than is credited- my teeth suck, but i married a guy with super-strong teeth and bone structure so (knock wood) they're teeth are great. sounds a little late for that solution for ya... suse

Thanks for the support, I've got about all the guilt I can take without this over my head. I wish I could say the same about my husband, but his teeth are just as bad as mine. It's amazing how this makes me question every piece of birthday cake, every Hallowe'en candy and every summertime ice cream cone we ever let her have.

 

[Asquaredmom]

Ariel came through all her dental work w/a smile....she loves to show everyone her new teeth. We have asked the daycare to help her brush her teeth after she eats and the latest note from them said she loves to brush and tells everyone how important it is.

Now we just need to work on the other things. Nutrition is the biggie. She is a chocoholic, not too surprising as I keep a stash hidden just for myself.

:

She will eat pasta, almond butter and jelly sandwiches, pancakes w/maple syrup and blueberries, a little orange, quaker maple/brown sugar oatmeal. Tonight we had cod, corn w/green soybeans and oven fries. I think she ate one french fry, a tablespoon of corn and no fish. She filled up on chocolate covered raisins later. I suppose I need to buckle down and not buy any more of that stuff, but it is sooooo hard. I love it too.

I believe that she purposely eats very little for dinner hoping to fill up on a sugary evening snack.

Thanks suseyblue and simonee for your support.

 

[simonee]

{{{{kathleen and dd}}}} Glad you made it through!!! Now you have a new start, and the essential part is to keep the mouth an inhospitable envirnoment for bacteria. Their "houses" are gone, but they'll try to make new ones while the going is good in her mouth. So you have to get rid of them first by brushing after EVERY meal/snack especially if sugur and chocolate are involved, rinsing the mouth all the times... it's hard, but worth it.

You should do a search in the archives for Remineralization, especiallyposts by malamamama. She did a lot of research and had TONS of advice on healthy dental foods, plus her own daughter whose teeth went from problematic to very healthy!

 

[Kokomom]

hi all-
just wanted to pass along something I learned from my dentist....well probably a couple of things

1. our kids can get cavaties from the bacteria that WE have in our mouths now. Interesting huh? So she said to not share spoons or tranfer spit in any way. Sloppy wet kisses

2 Use xylitol. We ordered some from globalsweet.com (recommended by a friend)...wish I would have known about the lo-carb store
3. Nite nursing does not cuase caries (read on)

My 12 mo DD was told by a high and mighty pediadontist that she had alot of decay and 2 cavaties and that we need to fill them and use nitrous oxide and a papoose board and something to hold her mouth open. And that nite nursing probably did it.

: (yes, he is still walking)

Our new dentist said there was very little decay and showed us by putting a blue goop on her teeth and then wiped it off..the blue stayed only where the decay was and there was a little around the place where her teeth were chipped from a fall. We are going to use xylidol rinse and recheck at 20 months or so.

SO HAPPY I got that second opinion.

Oh, and regarding xylidol...we are trying the gum for us, rinse for her and the granules to replace sugar in our coffee (which we love)

JM 2 cents.